Chinese backers put Mid West’s Oakajee port and rail plan back in play

Camera IconAn early artis’s impression of what the Oakajee Port could look like.Picture: Countryman

Plans are afoot to resurrect the $10 billion Oakajee port and rail project, with a little-known WA company saying it plans to raise $100 million from China, partly to fund work on the long-stalled project.

Oakajee was once the pet project of former premier Colin Barnett, who argued a multibillion-dollar port and rail system linking iron ore mines in the Mid West would kickstart a new industry in WA.

Now sharemarket-listed AustSino Resources Group says it may have Chinese backing for a deepwater port at Oakajee, as part of a merger proposal with Africa-focused iron ore developer Sundance Resources.

AustSino told shareholders it planned to spend as much as $30 million on work on Oakajee if a group of mystery Chinese backers made good on a promised $100 million cash injection.

Camera IconThe site of the proposed Oakajee port north of Geraldton.Picture: OPR.

Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan confirmed she had met AustSino this year to discuss its plans, along with two other groups that had shown interest in building infrastructure to service proposed iron ore mines in the Mid West.

“Our position has always been to support the development of a fully commercial operation at Oakajee,” she said. “The Mid West has a significant untapped resource base that we want to see unlocked, but any development needs to be economically viable.”

An attempt in 2014 to resurrect Oakajee — by AustSino predecessor Padbury Mining, then run by different managers and directors — ended in disaster when The West Australian revealed its supposed $US6.4 billion backer was a former hair-care magnate with a history of failed corporate deals.

Industry sources suggest a cautious approach is still merited, saying that, though iron ore prices are stronger than expected, they are not high enough to support massive spending on infrastructure and mines.

AustSino will not be allowed to push ahead unless it can convince regulators its mystery backers — Shanghai-based company Western Australian Port Rail Construction, run by Li Ping and Qiu Yu Hu — can come up with the cash.